7456. And will they not stone us? That this signifies that they would thus extinguish the truths of faith which are of worship, is evident from the signification of “stoning,” as being to extinguish and blot out falsities; but in the opposite sense, when done by the evil, as being to extinguish and blot out the truths of faith. If the infernal foulness and filthiness spoken of above (n. 7454) were to flow in with those who are in the holy of worship, the holy of worship would be extinguished; for the reason that when man is in the holy of worship, he is withheld from such things, and they who are in the good of faith and of life are elevated from the sensuous where such things are; but when such objects flow in, there are then excited the filthy things which are in the sensuous mind (and from which, as just said, the man is withheld when he is in the holy of worship, and they who are in good are being elevated), and thereupon the holy of worship is extinguished. This may also be plain from experience, for if when a man is engaged in Divine worship a filthy object appears, and is not removed, so long as it remains, the worship perishes and is extinguished. This is what is meant by the truths of faith which are of worship being extinguished by those who are in falsities from evils if these were in the neighborhood.

[2] As regards the signification of “stoning,” be it known that there were two death penalties among the Israelites and Jews, with whom the representative of a church had been instituted, of which the one was stoning, and the other was hanging upon wood. Stoning was for anyone who desired to destroy the truths of worship that had been commanded, and hanging was for anyone who desired to destroy the good of life. That those were stoned who desired to destroy the truths of worship, was because a “stone” signified truth, and in the opposite sense falsity (n. 643, 1298, 3720, 6426); and that those were hanged upon wood who desired to destroy the good of life, was because “wood” signified good, and in the opposite sense the evil of cupidities (n. 643, 2784, 2812, 3720).

[3] That the penalty of stoning was inflicted if anyone destroyed the truths which are of worship, is plain from the following passages:

At last they will make the company come up upon thee, and they shall stone thee with stone, and cut thee in sunder with their swords (Ezekiel 16:40);

speaking of Jerusalem perverted, and of the destruction of the truth of faith by means of falsities; hence it is said that they shall “stone with stone,” and also “cut in sunder with swords;” for a “sword” signifies truth fighting and destroying falsity, and in the opposite sense falsity fighting and destroying truth (n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102).

[4] So in another passage in the same:

Make the company come up against them, that the companies stone them with stone, and cleave them asunder with their swords (Ezekiel 23:46-47);

speaking of Jerusalem and Samaria, by which is signified the church, by “Jerusalem” the celestial spiritual church, by “Samaria” the spiritual church; and in this chapter is described how the goods and truths of faith have been destroyed in them.

[5] In Moses:

If when an ox shall gore a man or a woman that they die, stoning, the ox shall be stoned (Exodus 21:28);

“to gore a man or a woman” signifies falsity fighting and destroying truth and good, for a “horn” denotes falsity fighting, and also the power of falsity (n. 2832); by “man” and “woman” are signified in the Word truth and good. From this it is evident what is the internal sense in this command, and what the reason why the ox was to be stoned.

[6] In the same:

He that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah slaying shall be slain; all the assembly stoning shall stone him (Leviticus 24:15);

“to blaspheme the name of Jehovah” signifies to do violence to the truths and goods of worship by means of malevolent falsities. (That the “name of Jehovah” denotes everything in one complex whereby Jehovah is worshiped, see n. 2724, 3006, thus everything of faith and charity, n. 6674.) For this reason the son of the Israelitish woman who blasphemed the name of Jehovah was brought forth out of the camp and stoned (Leviticus 24:11, 14, 23). It was also ordered that those who served other gods should be stoned (Deuteronomy 17:3, 5); and also those who incited others to serve other gods (Deuteronomy 13:7-11). By “serving other gods” is signified profane worship, by which true worship is extinguished.

[7] If a damsel were married, and the tokens of virginity were not found in her, she was to be stoned, because she had wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house (Deuteronomy 22:20-21). This was because by “whoredom” was signified the falsification of truth, thus its destruction (n. 2466, 4865). If a man lay in a city with a damsel, a virgin betrothed to a man, they were both to be stoned (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), for the same reason, namely, because of whoredom, for spiritual whoredom is the falsification of truth.

[8] In Luke:

They concluded among themselves that if they were to say that the baptism of John was from heaven, He would say, Why did ye not believe him? But if they said, From men, all the people would stone them (Luke 20:5-6); where also “stoning” is predicated of what is contrary to truth. The Jews desired to stone Jesus because He said that before Abraham was, He was (John 8:58-59); and this was because that nation believed it to be false. It was the same when they desired to stone Jesus because He said that He and His Father are one (John 10:30-33); for this they believed to be blasphemy, as is there said. From all this it is now evident what “stoning” involves, and why it was commanded, and also that the penalty of stoning being in Egypt from ancient times, had been derived from the representatives of the Ancient Church.

6674. Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. That this signifies the quality and state of the natural where memory-knowledges are, is evident from the signification of “name,” as being quality (see n. 144, 145, 1896, 2009), and also state (n. 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298); for all names in the Word signify things, and comprise in sum total all things that belong to the subject that is being treated of, thus its quality and state; here therefore the names “Shiphrah and Puah” signify the quality and state of the natural where true memory-knowledges are, because this is the subject treated of, as is plain from what precedes (n. 6673).

[2] He who does not know that a name denotes the quality and state of the subject being treated of, can believe that where a name is mentioned, the name merely is meant; thus when the Lord speaks of His “name,” that it is merely the name, when yet it is the quality of the worship, that is, everything of faith and charity by which He is to be worshiped, as in these passages:

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20);

here the “name” is not meant, but worship from faith and charity.

As many as received, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12);

here also by “name” is meant faith and charity, whereby the Lord is worshiped.

These things have been written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31); where the sense is the same.

[3] Again:

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14);

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you (John 15:16; 16:23-24).

Here it is not meant that they should ask the Father in the Lord’s name, but that they should ask the Lord Himself; for there is no way open to the Divine Good which is the “Father” (see n. 3704), except through the Lord’s Divine Human, as is also known in the churches; and therefore to ask the Lord Himself is to ask according to the truths of faith, and whatever is asked in accordance with these truths is granted, as the Lord Himself says in the previous passage from John:

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14).

This can be seen further from the fact that the Lord is the “name” of Jehovah, of which thus in Moses:

I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way; beware of His faces, and hear His voice, and do not provoke Him, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exodus 23:20-21).

[4] In John:

Father, glorify Thy name: there came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:28).

I have manifested Thy name to the men whom thou hast given Me out of the world. I have made known unto them Thy name, and I will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:6, 26).

From these passages it is plain that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the “name” of Jehovah, or His whole quality; hence all Divine worship is from the Divine Human, and it is this which is to be worshiped; for thus is worshiped the Divine Itself, to which no thought reaches in any other way, and if no thought, no conjunction.

[5] That the “name” of the Lord is everything of faith and love by which the Lord is to be worshiped is still more plain from the following passages, in Matthew:

Ye shall be hated of all for My name’s sake (Matthew 10:22).

Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth me (Matthew 18:5).

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name’s sake; shall receive a hundredfold (Matthew 19:29).

They cried, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9).

Verily I say to you, For ye shall not see Me until the time shall come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Luke 13:35).

Whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41).

The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons obey us in Thy name. Jesus said to them, In this rejoice not, that the spirits obey you, but rather rejoice that your names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:17, 20);

“names written in heaven” are not names, but the quality of their faith and charity.

[6] So it is with “names written in the book of life” in the Apocalypse:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:4-5).

He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. He calleth His own sheep by name (John 10:2-3).

Jehovah said unto Moses, I know thee by name (Exodus 33:12, 17).

Many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He did (John 2:23).

He that believeth in Him is not judged, but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

They shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west (Isaiah 59:19).

All people walk everyone in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).

[7] In Moses:

They were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He should choose, and should put His name (Deuteronomy 21:5, 11, 14).

Also in Isaiah 18:7; Jeremiah 7:12; and in many other passages; as Isaiah 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 5 2:5; 62:2; Jeremiah 23:27; 26:16; Ezekiel 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Malachi 1:11; Deuteronomy 10:8; Revelation 2:17; 3:12 13:8 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12-13, 16; 22:3-4.

[8] That the “name of Jehovah” denotes everything by which He is worshiped, thus in the supreme sense everything that proceeds from the Lord, is evident from the benediction:

Jehovah bless thee and keep thee, Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee, and have mercy on thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee, and give thee peace. So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel (Numbers 6:23-27).

From all this it is now clear what is meant by this commandment of the Decalogue:

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him innocent that taketh His name in vain (Exodus 20:7);

also by Hallowed be Thy name, in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9).